Edward Willett

“ Impulsively he grasped the hand of White Shield, and the two pledged eternal friendship and brotherhood after the Indian fashion.
“My brother was fighting me a few moments ago,” said Wilder. “Why was he so anxious to kill me? It is seldom that you red-skins dare to attack a white man singly, unless you have an advantage over him.”
“White Shield is no coward,” replied the Blackfoot. “It is long since I have taken a scalp, and my people have lately suffered many reverses. I wished to carry home a scalp, so that the Blackfeet in my village might wash the mourning paint from their faces. ”

“ The Arapaho warriors had come from the village, in a long and solemn procession, to look upon their great medicine-man, who, as they firmly believed, had the power of going to the spirit-land and returning whenever he chose to do so—in others words, of dying and coming to life. George Benning and White Shield had stationed the band of Crows in a ravine near which the procession must pass, and the warriors from the north gazed from their hiding-place at their enemies, gloating over the rich prospect of scalps. ”

“ She seated herself by the side of the invalid, and waited anxiously and impatiently for the issue of her plans. Wilder told her that a yell would be the signal of the onset, and both listened, eagerly and painfully, for the savage slogan.
Wilder said nothing more of his fears concerning the probable loss of Dove-eye, and Flora did not mention the subject. Both were too much absorbed in listening for the yell, which she longed but almost dreaded to hear. When it came, at last, their nerves had been so strained by their long suspense, that it fell upon them like a thunderbolt. ”

“ They knew that those Indians were Blackfeet who were bent upon their capture, and their looks denoted a determination to die rather than be taken.
“What shall we do, White Shield?” asked Wilder. “For my part, the Blackfeet shall not take me alive. I will fight them to the last.”
“White Shield will fight with his brother. He can do nothing else. The Blackfeet hate me worse than they hate you. If we were only men, we might escape; but we have a woman with us, and she is now very tired.” ”

“ Hardly had Benning issued from the cañon, when another peril confronted him. The horse stopped at the brink of a precipice. The rider could see that a prairie stretched out below him; but he could not guess how far down it might be, or what might await him at the foot of the rock.
There was no time for consideration. His pursuers were close behind him. He had to choose between certain death at the hands of the savages, and a fearful leap in the dark. He chose the latter alternative; but his horse refused to take the leap, backing away from the abyss, and snorting and trembling with terror. ”

“ It was not long before Benning and Flora followed them, with a sufficient escort of mountain-men, Fred Wilder having become so far convalescent as to be able to take charge of the business at the rendezvous. Bad Eye accompanied them some distance on their journey; but they in vain endeavored to persuade him to return to civilized life.
“I am no longer a white man,” he said. “I love the Crows, and the remainder of my life shall be spent among them.” ”

“ Would you slay a man who has been stricken by the Great Spirit? I say that they shall not be burned while I live, and I know well that more than one of you will fall before I die.”
It is said that a wild beast will shrink from the steady glance of a brave man. So did the savages quail before the fearless eye and undaunted demeanor of Fred Wilder. ”

“ If he could blame himself for any thing, it was only for having taken Dennis Regan as one of his party.
He found himself alone, and further than ever from the object which he had undertaken, the rescue of Flora Robinette. He still had his strength and his weapons, and had a good horse under him; but what could one man do against a tribe of Indians? He had no thought, however, of giving up the search; but was determined to persevere, if it should take a lifetime, until he could recover the lady of his love, or learn her fate. ”

“ White Shield had never heard any of those tales of civilized men whose hair has suddenly turned gray from the effect of terrible fright or severe suffering. If he had read them, he would not for a moment have believed that any thing could change the long and waving masses of Silverspur’s brown hair to those thin gray threads. ”

“ In his right hand he carried a gun, a bow and a quiver of arrows were slung at his back, and an Indian battle-ax hung at his left side. On his left arm he carried a shield, round and white, which was dazzling to the beholder when the rays of the sun were reflected from it.
“That red-skin don’t want to talk,” muttered the white man. “He is keen for fight, and won’t be satisfied until he gets his fill. Well, I think I can accommodate him.”
As the Indian circled over the prairie, the white man, with his rifle at his shoulder, kept turning, so as continually to face his antagonist. ”

“ We would have had a big dance over that scalp, if we had not lost two warriors in the fight. It is the scalp of the white-haired chief.”
“And who was he?”
“I thought you knew him. You call him Robinette, the trader.”
“Whew! The old fellow is dead, then,” said Wilder, musingly. “He was a strange man, shrewd, daring, but rather unscrupulous, as I have heard. Did your braves capture his train?”
“No. They came across his party, and stampeded the horses. As they had surprised the camp, they thought they might do more; but the white men beat them off at last. The men who came to-night were his men. ”

“ The scalp which was the occasion of the revelry, together with one which had been brought in by the war-party, was suspended upon a pole, and Wilder inspected them with the others. The hair of one of the scalps was short, black and curly. That of the other was short, thin and silver gray. It was evident to the young trapper that neither was the scalp of an Indian, and he called White Shield aside to speak to him concerning them.
“That black scalp yonder,” said he, “is not the scalp of an Indian.”
“No; it is the scalp of a white man.” ”

“ Has White Shield seen them or heard of them?”
“I have heard of them; but they have not yet come into this country. My brother need give himself no trouble about them. Let him come with me, and he will find traps, and I will show him better beaver-streams than he has ever seen. He can live among the Blackfeet and trade with them, and can get more skins than any other trader.”
It may have been the love of adventure that moved Fred Wilder, or it may have been the desire of gain, stimulated by the prospect that the Blackfoot held out to him. ”

“ At the end of that time, as he had heard nothing of them, he was forced to the conclusion that his suspicions had been too well founded, and that White Shield had betrayed him. It was possible that they might have been captured by some roving band of Indians; but it was not at all probable that so brave and wily a warrior as the Blackfoot would have suffered himself to be taken by any enemy. Wilder could only believe that he had gone back to the Blackfeet, or that he had taken possession of Flora for purposes of his own. ”

“ The Indian stopped and looked back, pointing down the defile.
“There are not enough warriors with Good Ax,” said he, “to take this pass, while it is defended by one brave man.”
[47]
“But they might surround us,” replied Wilder, “or they might starve us out in time.”
“I shall not stay here long enough to get hungry; but we will gain time. I will defend the pass, while my white brother and sister ride on and get far from their enemies.”
“You will do no such thing, White Shield. We can not allow you to sacrifice yourself for us, or to fight the Blackfeet, who are your brothers.” ”

“ White Shield proceeded to mention other Arapahoes who had fallen by his hand, and the same response followed each narration. At the fifth, which filled the number allowed to each relator, a warrior started up.
“Are you speaking the truth?” he said. “It was White Shield, a great brave of the Blackfeet, who killed Red Bear.”
“I am White Shield,” replied the Blackfoot. “I am a warrior, as you know, and a great brave. I have left the Blackfeet, and they would kill me if they should see me. I have come to the Arapahoes, who are great warriors, to make them my brothers, and to fight for them. ”

“ In his daughter we have his perfect contrast. The beautiful child-woman is not only grace itself, but is bravery itself; and though apparently as wild as the mustang which she rides, is as true to a pure woman’s instincts as if raised as a petted child of the parlor.
The secondary persons of the stirring story are the captain of the expedition of observation; the dreaded Demon Slayer, whose track seemed marked with the blood of the Blackfeet, and the Indian chief, whose cunning and thirst for scalps gives the leading incidents to the drama. ”

“ She had manifested, also, a spirit of daring and love of adventure, together with a real delight in the fresh air and free life of the plains, that had charmed the rough men into whose company she was thrown, and rendered her the idol of them all. ”

“ Let him come with me, and he shall share my lodge, and shall be my brother.”
“Perhaps we had better wait a little before going so far. I am not quite so ready to join hands with a man who has just sought my life. You are a Blackfoot, I should say, judging from your paint. What name do you go by?”
“My brother has guessed well. I am a Blackfoot, and am a great brave among my people, who have named me White Shield. What is my brother called?”
“My name is Fred Wilder, and the red-skins call me Silverspur, because, I suppose, I have always worn one of those articles among them.” ”

“ What could be more likely than that he should fall in love with fair Flora Robinette, and what better opportunity could a man have for pressing his suit, than just when he had rescued the lady of his love from captivity among savages? ”

“ He listened to Benning’s tale very attentively, and the partisan, knowing the usually stolid nature of the Indian character, was surprised at the emotion which he manifested.
“The white-haired chief, then, is dead,” he said. “Some worse men have died, and many better men. He was hard in his dealings with the red-men, but did not treat them as badly as some traders have done. The Blackfeet must not keep his scalp, to dry in their lodges, if Bad Eye can take it from them. But his daughter is safe, I think. I know something of Silverspur, and I know that he always does what he undertakes to do. ”

“ The timber was so close, the darkness was so dense, and the overhanging boughs were so troublesome, that Wilder did not make such progress as he wished to make, and he knew that his pursuers were gaining on him. The dog would keep them on the trail, in spite of the darkness, and it was evident that they must overtake him, unless fortune should favor him in some way. ”

“ Two stout stakes were set in the ground, near the middle of the village, and the victims were brought to them, surrounded and followed by a motley throng of Indians, of all ages and both sexes.
Dennis Regan, who had not spoken a word since his vow of the previous night, was bound to one post, and Pap Byers to the other, and what may be called the small torturing commenced. Women and children assailed the white men with all sorts of opprobrious epithets, beat them with sticks, kicked them, pinched them, pulled their hair, and provoked them by every means in their power. ”

“ I am ready to die for my brother, when he bids me go to the spirit-land; but he asks more than death. If I should do what he asks me to do, I must betray my people, and must leave them forever; for I should be cast out from among them, and even my father and my brothers would seek to kill me. ”

“ She could ride as fast as they wished to ride, and they need not be afraid that she would hinder them.
“There is but one thing to do,” said the Blackfoot. “The pass is a difficult one, and there is a place at which one man can defend it against a hundred. We will stop there, my brother, and will fight.”
“Let us make haste, then, and reach it.”
The lapse of an hour found them in a narrow defile in the heart of the mountains. With difficulty they forced their horses up a steep incline, to the summit of the declivity, beyond which the trail was broad and easy. ”

“ It must be him whom the warriors were chasing last night, when there was such a noise in the direction of the village. He was nearly killed by the fall from that cliff.”
“I will dress his wounds, and we will take care of him.”
“But the warriors will seek for him this morning. They will go to the spot where we found him, to see his body and to take his scalp. Not finding him there, they will follow our trail, and will come here.”
“It is true. He must be hid.”
“But where can he be hid? He is too weak to be moved.” ”

“ Wilder knew, as soon as they entered the cave, that the Indian girl had not been found. The sorrowful countenance of Flora told him this, and he felt as one who has sustained a great loss.
“You need tell me nothing about it,” he said. “I felt sure [93] that it would be so. She is lost, and here I am, on my back, more helpless than a child.”
“You are not helpless while we are here to help you,” replied Benning. “White Shield and I will do all that any man can do; but we can stay here no longer. The Crows are anxious to leave, and we will only have time to make a litter to carry you in.” ”